Story Protocol: Tokenized Intellectual Property in an AI-Controlled Future

Your data and intellectual property against AI. So far, AI has been the winner, but can Story Protocol change that and give you back control over your data

What is Story Protocol, and why is it such a big deal [1]? In simple terms, it’s all about the ownership of your creations online. The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain focused on tokenizing intellectual property, to ensure that the real IP owners can finally benefit from how their creations are used, for example, through royalties [1]. In a world where AI’s gobbling up every bit of our data, it’s a nice change of pace to see a project that actually wants to give us back some control, instead of just letting our digital lives become AI food.

Intellectual Property?

First, we should clarify what Intellectual Property (IP) actually is. IP is almost everything around you. Look around you, what do you see? A Coca-Cola can on your desk? The logo and brand name are protected intellectual property of “The Coca-Cola Company”. Are you reading this article on your MacBook? The design and technology are protected by numerous Apple patents and trademarks, so their IP. Wearing a T-shirt from your favorite brand? The logo and possibly the design are protected by copyright. And what were you going to do until you came across this article, maybe upload a new photo to Instagram? That’s essentially your IP. (Even if you grant Instagram certain rights to that image through the terms of use). So IP covers a wide range of creative and innovative creations that are legally protected. Estimating the global market value of IP is difficult, but we are potentially moving around a value of $61 Trillion [2].

The Story Protocol — a potential game changer

The Story Protocol is a layer 1 blockchain tailored to the requirements needed to tokenize IP. It is a proof-of-stake blockchain built using the Cosmos SDK and CometBFT consensus, with an added EVM execution and can tokenize different types of IPs like art, music, images, code, ideas, and more. By tokenizing the IP, it becomes immutable thanks to smart contracts. It is possible to use tokenization and smart contracts to define the royalty agreement and the terms of usage on the blockchain. It can therefore not be exploited or used in an unintended manner — even in the event that the data is used for training AI or generating content through AI. The Proof of Creativity protocol validates the originality of content before monetization is allowed, protecting creators from unauthorized use by AI.

These are good prerequisites for a thriving ecosystem of different dApps that can be built on this blockchain, and, in addition, the Story Protocol is compatible with LayerZero, which enables cross-chain compatibility [3]. The mainnet has been online since February 13, 2025, which is only a few days at the time of writing, so it’s worth exploring the ecosystem [3].

A focus on the tokenomics:

The blockchain has a native token called $IP, which fulfills multiple roles [4]:

• Staking to secure the blockchain as it is a proof-of-stake blockchain
• Gas to pay for the transactions
• $IP also acts as a governance token with which the future of the protocol can be decided

In terms of distribution, it looks like this [4]:

• 38.4% — Ecosystem + Community
• 10% — Initial Incentives
• 10% — Foundation
• 21.6% — Early Backers
• 20% — Core Contributors

The initial supply is 1 billion and only 25% are unlocked at launch. That’s why one should also examine the vesting schedule, which is based on the scheme below.

Why is it worth keeping an eye on this project?

I do not want to frame anybody here, as I have no exposure to Story Protocol, nor any collaboration. However, the project has caused quite a stir and traction within the crypto community, especially on Crypto Twitter, as we finally have a new and innovative project on our hands. Blockchains are now a dime a dozen, but rarely are they as sophisticated and innovative as this one. The project stands out as we are moving into a future in which data plays an increasingly important role. With today’s omnipresent AI, our data is on the cusp of degenerating into data fodder that is recycled again and again. The Story Protocol offers a tailored solution to a real problem. Artists in particular, but actually everyone can benefit from being paid if someone wants to use your IP, even if an AI model is to be trained with it, or it is just used in connection with AI. This topic will become increasingly important in the future and a project like this gives us hope for a future in which human-generated content and AI-generated content can co-exist fairly. Nowadays, already, social media users realize that a big chunk of the content they consume on different platforms is AI-generated or AI-enhanced and not user-generated anymore. In addition to being innovative and offering a real solution to a real problem, the team around the Story Protocol consists of interesting personalities such as co-founder Jason Zhao, who previously worked on Google’s DeepMind project and therefore brings relevant expertise to the table. In addition, big names are among the early investors and backers of the project. PIP Labs, for example, the chain’s primary developer, was funded in its Series B by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) with around $80 million and was able to raise a total of $140 million [2][5].

Conclusion

I can’t promise anyone here that the project will be a success and as I said before I have neither exposure nor any connection to the project. But when I heard about the project, it felt like a glimmer of hope in the very meme-driven crypto space of lately. Far too often we’ve seen new protocols that are simply copycats being launched without any additional innovation or value, which I wrote an article about already [6]. This project corresponds to the current zeitgeist of a future with AI, fulfills a real need, and could become essential in the future. Topics like these put the real purpose of blockchain in the foreground and have an effective benefit. In addition, this project is approaching the initial idea of values in crypto and Web 3, as our beloved Internet develops from Web 1 to Web 3 (picture below) [7]. The Story Protocol helps to maintain control over your IP and as long as it is tokenized on the blockchain, you own it, you own your IP as a proper part of the internet.

Story Protocol is betting big on a future where creators truly own their work. What are your thoughts on this vision? Do you think this is necessary in an AI-dominated future, or are there other ways to protect the creator’s work?

If you liked the article, don’t hesitate to follow me here on Medium and on Hackernoon and read my other stories too! And if you want to talk to me or collaborate on an article you can also write me on my X/Twitter or Bluesky, my username there is @Maxo1st as well.

Cheers, xx

References:

[1] https://www.story.foundation/

[2] https://www.blocmates.com/articles/an-idiot-s-guide-to-story-protocol-the-world-s-ip-blockchain

[3] https://www.story.foundation/blog/story-mainnet

[4] https://www.story.foundation/blog/introducing-ip

[5] https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2025/02/13/story-protocol-launches-to-let-people-to-register-ip-and-get-paid-for-it

[6] https://medium.com/coinmonks/defi-fatigue-are-we-stuck-in-a-loop-the-current-and-devastating-state-of-defi-2025-7cb5ce478205

[7] https://etraverse.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/evolution_of_web_from_web_1_0_to_web_3_0_training_ppt_slide01.jpg

Originally published at https://hackernoon.com on February 7, 2025.

Story Protocol: Tokenized Intellectual Property in an AI-Controlled Future was originally published in Coinmonks on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.